Physician Champion Award Winner
Martin Doerfler, MD
Senior Vice President, Clinical Strategy and Associate Chief Medical Officer
Northwell Health
Long Island, NY
Sepsis, a top killer and number-one driver of hospital admissions, continues to be seen and addressed in policy and practice largely at the hospital level.
Dr. Doerfler has not only made enormous advances in hospital-based sepsis care, he is among the select few standout voices from nearly all his peers in recognizing the dangers of sepsis at the community level – and the ability of home care to make a difference.
Speaking to an audience at one of HCA’s Quality Conferences, Dr. Doerfler gave purpose and legitimacy to home care’s potential for filling a void in the pre-hospital, pre-ER role of sepsis intervention. From that time onward, his medical expertise, devotion of time and extensive collaboration with HCA on our sepsis initiative were critical from inception to completion.
In 2016, Dr. Doerfler was awarded a national Sepsis Heroes Award by the national Sepsis Alliance for his work in sepsis, including his foundational role in HCA’s sepsis initiative for home care.
His efforts to reduce sepsis mortality and morbidity have led to innovative hospital and ER programming, best-practices and early detection training for RNs and emergency department staff, providing a model for other settings that has been foundational to HCA’s efforts.
Physician Home Care Champion Award
This HCA award recognizes a physician in New York State who has demonstrated a strong and model commitment to home care patients and agency partners. The awardee will have engaged in an exemplary fashion with home care providers on: care management at home (through effective care-transitions, primary care house-calls, home care-directed telehealth, and other means); specific community health interventions that directly involve collaboration with a home care agency; and/or other home care-supportive leadership roles.